Fireworks
by Stealth Noodle
Summary: "Why is it so hard to get them to figure out that they're obviously in love with each other?"


**Title: **Fireworks**  
><strong>Rating: <strong>**PG****  
><strong>Summary: <strong>****"Why is it so hard to get them to figure out that they're obviously in love with each other?"

**Note:** Written for** **yuri_challenge**** on Dreamwidth, for prompt "Pearl x Trucy, Apollo Justice timeline - they've always wanted a family, and find one in one another. (Or: their epic plot to set daddy Phoenix up with Mystic Maya backfires when they end up falling for one another.)"

* * *

><p>Trucy elbowed her way off the train, broke into a sprint, and grabbed Pearl in a hug that sent a steaming paper cup flying and nearly knocked them both flat on the snow-dusted platform. Pearl hugged back with equal enthusiasm until their lungs compelled them to let go.<p>

"I haven't seen you since summer!" Trucy gushed once she had her breath back. A dark spot in the snow jogged her short-term memory. "Was that your hot chocolate?"

Pearl shrugged and grinned. "It was almost empty, anyway. I missed you so much!"

"I wrote you so many letters that my hand was too sore for coin tricks!"

"I wrote you so many letters that everyone I channeled had huge calluses on their fingers!"

"I wrote—" Trucy began, but Pearl squealed and clapped a mitten-covered hand over her mouth. Following Pearl's gesture, Trucy watched her father struggle with the luggage until Maya grabbed one of the suitcases. When he tried to take it back, Maya yanked his hat down over his eyes and laughed.

The girls sighed in unison.

Folding her hands under chin, Pearl whispered, "It's an elegant, adult love, blooming slowly for years!"

Trucy cracked her knuckles. "And I can't _wait_to hurry it up. Did you get everything?"

"Yes! And Mystic Maya doesn't suspect a thing."

"Perfect." After glancing to be sure her father and Maya weren't watching, Trucy angled her hat and struck a pose. "The Magicians of Love are on the case!"

Pearl frowned. "I thought we were the Kurain Cupids."

"But I'm not from Kurain."

"And I'm not a magician."

They eyed each other askance.

"Magical," Trucy began.

"Cupids," Pearl added.

They linked hands and finished in unison, "Of Love!"

After a thoughtful beat, Trucy said, "Okay, that's pretty silly, but let's run with it."

Pearl beamed. "On to Phase One!"

* * *

><p>The little fork went on the left, probably, next to the spoon—no, spoon and fork could not be friends, she remembered that much, so maybe the forks needed be stacked—<p>

"Here, allow me." Pearl intercepted the silverware and offered a bag of candles in exchange. "You can set up the mood lighting."

"Hang on, I brought my own trick ones." After a quick rummage through her magic panties, Trucy held up a fistful of slim red candles. "These are_guaranteed_to be magically romantic."

"Great!" Metal clinked as the silverware was set rapidly in order. "Just hurry, because they should be here any minute now."

Trucy jammed candlesticks into holders before setting them on the table and everywhere else that looked in need of alluring illumination, lighting them as she went with a bit of skillful sleight-of-hand. When she turned off the electric lights, a warm glow spread over the darkened environs, gleaming from the Fey family's best dishes and the valuable artifacts arranged into a centerpiece.

The smell of expertly seasoned beef wafted through the air as Pearl raised the lid from the main serving dish. She probably owed favors to half of Kurain's population for the meal, but the results would be well worth the price. No one could resist a dinner this romantic.

Pearl inhaled deeply before turning her attention to the candles. "Aww, the flames are little hearts!"

Footsteps approached. "They're almost here!" Trucy hissed, snatching the lids from the side dishes. "Let's go!"

She and Pearl had just slid the door shut behind them when the opposite door was pulled open. "Huh," said her father's voice. "I guess this is what the girls meant when they said they made dinner for us."

"Wow! When did Pearly learn to cook anything that smells this good?" There came the sound of a Maya-sized weight slamming down into a chair, followed by inarticulate noises that sounded as if they'd taken heavy damage fighting past a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

Pearl knelt and peered through a tiny hole in the screen. "Well?" whispered Trucy. "Are they overcome by romance yet?"

"Ummm." Pearl dragged the sound out, let it fade, and finally replied, "Mystic Maya looks like she's been overcome by hunger, mostly."

"What's Daddy doing?"

"Trying to distract her long enough to get food on his plate, I think."

"Oh." Trucy listened and winced. "Can you understand a word Maya's saying?"

"Just 'yum.'" Pearl sighed. "I don't think they've even noticed the candles."

Maya's garbled monologue paused long enough for her to emit a horrible belch.

"So much for the romantic dinner," Trucy muttered as the girls slunk away.

Pearl patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. Phase Two is even _more _guaranteed to work!"

* * *

><p>The wind blew hard and cold on the roof over the Winding Way, but the best tricks always required nerves of steel, a finely honed sense of balance, and a certain disregard for danger. A chinstrap for one's hat helped, too, when the best trick required one to outwit wind and gravity. But there was nothing to be done about the wild flapping of her cape, short of removing it, and Trucy had <em>standards<em>.

Pearl perched beside her with a white-knuckle grip on the roof and the nervous giddiness of one who was doing something that she had spent her entire life being told not to do. Climbing up on the roof had been Trucy's idea, but Pearl had been quick to procure a ladder to make this possible. Now they waited eagerly for sounds of approach.

"Those two are sure taking their time on their walk," Trucy said, after spitting her cape out of her mouth for the fourth time.

"Maybe it's a romantic walk," Pearl replied. "Maybe he has his arm around her shoulders as they whisper sweet promises to each other."

"I _wish_." Trucy sighed and picked at a loose tile on the roof. "Why is it so hard to get them to figure out that they're obviously in love with each other?"

"Maybe Mr. Nick is too nervous to confess his feelings. I mean, Mystic Maya is _perfect_!" A faraway look glazed Pearl's eyes. "I want to be just like her when I grow up. She's so smart, and brave, and pretty..."

Trucy rolled her eyes. "What do you mean, when you grow up? You're already all those things!"

Pearl blinked and snapped her focus back to Trucy. "Really?"

"Of course! You have the best ideas, and you've made it through more rough stuff than most people ever have to, and you're—" inexplicably, Trucy's face warmed— "you're really pretty, too."

Pearl flushed and pressed her thumbnail to her mouth. "You really think so?"

"Yeah! There's nobody in the world I'd rather be on the roof with right now."

Still blushing, Pearl lowered her hand from her face. "Me neither. I—"

Whatever she intended to say next was lost in the patter of approaching feet. Trucy grabbed Pearl's hand for balance and leaned forward until Mr. Hat dangled just over the edge of the roof. Pearl made a worried noise and gripped her wrist tight with both hands.

Anticipation dragged out the seconds that Trucy counted down from three. Bracing herself against the kickback, she pressed the button to deploy Mr. Hat in an upside-down extravaganza of heart-stopping special effects. Her ears prepared for the terrified scream that would surely indicate Maya had leapt into the arms of her true love, igniting the spark of romance.

Maya failed to scream, yelp, or even gasp. Instead there was a moment of silence before she laughed and said, "She really takes after you, Nick."

"Wait, when have I ever done anything like this?"

"You'd do it all the time if you had a Mr. Hat."

"I doubt it, Maya."

"Well, you can't prove that unless we find an alternate-universe you who_does_ have a Mr. Hat and _doesn't_play tricks with it. Which is impossible, because any alternate-universe you with a Mr. Hat has to be a master prankster."

"'Impossible' is the only word that made sense out of that."

Maya had a response, but Trucy didn't hear it; the conversation had moved out of earshot, and anyway Trucy had better things to do than listen to it. Letting Pearl pull her and Mr. Hat back upright was the most pressing, followed closely by moping.

Once she had her footing, Trucy set her hands on her hips and huffed. "Shoot! That always works on Polly."

Pearl shrugged and scooted toward the ladder. "I guess Mystic Maya's too brave for that trick. But Phase Three has to work on anybody, no matter how tough they are!"

Trucy nodded firmly. "Onward, Magical Cupids of Love! Onward to—"

As she spat her cape out of her mouth, Pearl ventured, "I don't think you should wear that on the roof again."

* * *

><p>A lifetime of stagecraft and permissive parenting had left Trucy with a bit of a knack for pyrotechnics, and Pearl's position as the Master's lovable cousin gave her access to any number of favors from the local villagers. Their combined contributions resulted in an elaborate array of fireworks outside the Manor, just a spark away from turning the entire night sky into a romantic backdrop.<p>

Snow drifted gently around the girls as they waited together under the stars, watching their breath rise in pale curls. Trucy tapped out an impatient rhythm with her fingers against her matchbox.

"She must be giving him a tour of everything in the village," said Pearl, tucking her arms against her body for warmth. "Possibly everything twice."

"And it's not like Daddy's never been here before." Trucy set her free hand on her hip. "I don't understand how they can spend so much time together and still be so _clueless_."

Pearl sidled closer to her. "Well, some people can be a little dense about some things, I suppose. Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya are both so smart, but they don't seem to understand their own true love at all."

"I'm sure these fireworks will do the trick. I mean, have you ever seen a movie where the main couple doesn't kiss when fireworks start going off?"

They drifted closer together until they were nearly huddling. The moon shone crisp in the clear sky, affording an excellent view of the path to the Manor. Pearl drew a long breath and seemed about to speak when Trucy spied movement.

"It's them!" Trucy whispered, though they were well out of eavesdropping range. "Get ready!"

As she fumbled to light a match despite the numbing chill that had crept through her gloves, Pearl began, "Trucy—"

"Shh, they're almost here!"

"Trucy, _listen!_"

The match finally caught fire. "Can it wait?"

"Trucy, I really like you."

"I like you too, but right now—"

"I mean I _really like you._"

Trucy turned slowly, mouth dry. Pearl's eyes gleamed wide above a dark blush. Their bodies, Trucy realized, were so close that she wasn't sure whose heart was thumping so loudly. How long had her palms been sweating?

"Oh," she said, and didn't have to think of anything more articulate before Pearl's lips were soft and nervous against her own.

A moment later the match burned down to her gloves, so she flung it away. The ensuing pyrotechnic burst registered only in the back of her mind; the forefront had no space for anything but Pearl, who really was smart and brave and pretty and who made her wonder if she had somehow adopted her daddy's romantic denseness when she adopted him.

Pearl drew back and regarded Trucy with an expression on the brink of multiple emotions. "I'm sorry," she said. "I—"

Trucy hushed her by kissing back.

When they parted again, there was no one on the path. Trucy could scarcely feel the night's chill over the heat of her blood and the proximity of Pearl. Snowflakes melted the moment they touched her cheeks.

"I think they're already inside," said Pearl.

Trucy grinned and struck another match. "They can wait. Wanna set off the rest of the fireworks?"


End file.
